Merry Christmas!
There are just a few more days before Christmas. The house is decorated, Christmas music is playing, Christmas cards are mailed, and presents are under the tree. Every night the boys gather around the tree to listen to some scriptures about the prophesy of Jesus' birth and the Gospel of Luke's account of that glorious night - followed by eating nightly candy from the Advent calendar!
Even in the busyness of shopping for gifts, shipping packages, and planning Christmas dinner and activities, I try to keep my focus on the miracle of Christ's birth. In the songs that we sing and the scripture we read, I find myself in awe of God's plan of salvation. The long awaited messiah was born in the town of Bethlehem, a host of angels proclaimed the glory of His birth to lowly shepherds, and prophesy was fulfilled. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 It is truly a wonderful time of year!
This Christmas we are blessed to be spending a few weeks with the Mlack family. Mika, Tom and Madison will staying with us into the new year. We will visit the National Tree in DC, go to church on Christmas Eve and feast on our favorite holiday recipes. We haven't spent Christmas together since 2004, so this is a special treat.
In the tradition of the Christmas letter, I feel obligated to give you a recap of our year. 2008 was filled with so many joys and great memories. The highlights of the year were a few big trips. We went to Spain for a week in the Spring, took a quick trip to New York for a weekend in April to see the METS play at Shea, and the boys and I spent a good portion of our summer vacationing in California. We went to quite a few baseball games this year, enjoyed the company of some out of town guests, and I was lucky enough to have a mom's weekend off and take a solo trip to Clarksville to visit some pals.
Eli and Gabriel are growing so fast! Eli is 6 and in First grade and Gabriel is 4 and in preschool 3 days a week. Eli loves reading and math and is doing very well in both subjects. Eli has a very sweet heart. He loves to be the leader, enjoys playing board games, and can never get enough bike riding. Gabriel enjoys his time at preschool, but it closely rivals sleeping in, staying in his jammies all day, taking a good two hour nap, and playing at home by himself. Gabriel is always willing to give hugs, frequently tells me he loves me, and sometime insists on being called "big boy baby". He'll hate me for that when he gets older. Both of the boys find ways to make us laugh and smile, as well as cause us to look at them and wonder why they do some of the crazy things they do. They keep us on our toes and make every day an adventure.
Matt is still flying "high level DOD officials" around, and serves as the company safety officer. He really enjoys his job, and his flexible schedule. I am busy ferrying the boys around, hitting the gym, keeping up with things at the house, and other little projects here and there that fill my days.
This summer we found out that we will be moving to Germany in August 2009! Even though most of our family and friends are a little cranky about the move, I am very excited about the opportunity. I've been trying to learn some basic German, and have been researching everything I can about living abroad. Eli decided he doesn't want to move to Germany. He is very upset about wearing collared shirts at the new school and has opted to stay at his friend Mary's house until the rest of the family returns the the United States. I have a feeling this move is going to be very difficult for him.
We are blessed to be in good health, surrounded by great friends both locally and afar, and to have spent the last 2 1/2 years together as a family with little disruption from the Army. As we enter into 2009 we thank God for all that he has given us and look forward to the great things that are in store for the new year.
We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!
Even in the busyness of shopping for gifts, shipping packages, and planning Christmas dinner and activities, I try to keep my focus on the miracle of Christ's birth. In the songs that we sing and the scripture we read, I find myself in awe of God's plan of salvation. The long awaited messiah was born in the town of Bethlehem, a host of angels proclaimed the glory of His birth to lowly shepherds, and prophesy was fulfilled. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 It is truly a wonderful time of year!
This Christmas we are blessed to be spending a few weeks with the Mlack family. Mika, Tom and Madison will staying with us into the new year. We will visit the National Tree in DC, go to church on Christmas Eve and feast on our favorite holiday recipes. We haven't spent Christmas together since 2004, so this is a special treat.
In the tradition of the Christmas letter, I feel obligated to give you a recap of our year. 2008 was filled with so many joys and great memories. The highlights of the year were a few big trips. We went to Spain for a week in the Spring, took a quick trip to New York for a weekend in April to see the METS play at Shea, and the boys and I spent a good portion of our summer vacationing in California. We went to quite a few baseball games this year, enjoyed the company of some out of town guests, and I was lucky enough to have a mom's weekend off and take a solo trip to Clarksville to visit some pals.
Eli and Gabriel are growing so fast! Eli is 6 and in First grade and Gabriel is 4 and in preschool 3 days a week. Eli loves reading and math and is doing very well in both subjects. Eli has a very sweet heart. He loves to be the leader, enjoys playing board games, and can never get enough bike riding. Gabriel enjoys his time at preschool, but it closely rivals sleeping in, staying in his jammies all day, taking a good two hour nap, and playing at home by himself. Gabriel is always willing to give hugs, frequently tells me he loves me, and sometime insists on being called "big boy baby". He'll hate me for that when he gets older. Both of the boys find ways to make us laugh and smile, as well as cause us to look at them and wonder why they do some of the crazy things they do. They keep us on our toes and make every day an adventure.
Matt is still flying "high level DOD officials" around, and serves as the company safety officer. He really enjoys his job, and his flexible schedule. I am busy ferrying the boys around, hitting the gym, keeping up with things at the house, and other little projects here and there that fill my days.
This summer we found out that we will be moving to Germany in August 2009! Even though most of our family and friends are a little cranky about the move, I am very excited about the opportunity. I've been trying to learn some basic German, and have been researching everything I can about living abroad. Eli decided he doesn't want to move to Germany. He is very upset about wearing collared shirts at the new school and has opted to stay at his friend Mary's house until the rest of the family returns the the United States. I have a feeling this move is going to be very difficult for him.
We are blessed to be in good health, surrounded by great friends both locally and afar, and to have spent the last 2 1/2 years together as a family with little disruption from the Army. As we enter into 2009 we thank God for all that he has given us and look forward to the great things that are in store for the new year.
We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!
Comments
Here's proof Kurt sent your x-mas presents to you on time.. go to USPS and type in Confirmation # 0306 0320 0000 0242 9542. Now I admit we are late on these things sometimes... but this time I thought we had it!!!!!!!!